Mixing raw and dry food

Hello all!

I have a question hopefully someone can help me with, since the info on the internet is contradictory.

Does anyone feed their cat any high protein dry food and also give them raw food?

I used to feed my cat what I thought was good cat food (mostly Wellness brand products), but I now think they have far too much carbs.

So, I switched my cat to raw and timed feeding. This was after him being able to munch on bowl of dry food throughout the day for the past 6 years. It's been 6 months of just raw and he just will not stop freaking out about wanting food. I haven't had a good night sleep in ages because of it.

I love him so much and he deserves the best but I'm trying to get pregnant and need to think about my health too. Bad sleep isn't an option anymore.

I was looking into high protein dry foods and came across a brand called Young Again that looks good. Their website says that you should free feed your cat, which does make sense to me, especially for domesticated cats that don't go outside (we live in a city) and can't hunt. It's like my cat is so stressed out thinking he's never going to eat again.

Anyway, the internet seems to tell me not to mix raw food and dry food. Would it really be that bad if I left out Young Again dry food and gave my cat a little bit of Rad Cat at night?

Any advice at all would be SO appreciated!

Also, if anyone has any experience with Young Again dry food and has any insight into that food, that'd be great! The website makes A LOT of claims.

Hi Amandamariec. You should be proud of yourself for wanting the best for your kitty and wanting to feed it only good quality foods. I can only imagine how frustrated you must be to be losing sleep over this issue for six months while also trying to get pregnant at the same time. 

I read quite a lot of articles about feline nutrition when I tried to figure out what to feed my cats. After reading so many articles about the junk that goes into dried kibble I decided to raise my kittens on BARF (biologically appropriate raw food) and I feed them Carnibest a Dutch brand which is very much like Rad Cat for I realized there was no way I personally could make my own homemade raw food for the kitties. I have to say all family cats were fed on dry kibble and while some of them did just fine one got UT and eventually kidney failure and Leilah my mother's cat is allergic to all kinds of dry food even the sensitive versions but does well on raw. 

I understand you want to know if feeding dry kibble with a little bit of raw or vice versa is ok but from what I've read is that both kibble and raw meat require different kinds of digestive processes. Raw food being a protein is broken down by an acid bath in the stomach unlike kibble which needs to be broken down in enzymes and does not need an acid bath. Mixing these two can result in GI problems like gas, sticky stool, bloating and other discomforts. So mixing those two would only make matters worse for your cat and ultimately you. 

I've read on http://www.catnutrition.org/faq.html that for diehard kibble eaters (like your cat who has been eating it for six years) transitioning from kibble to canned and then to raw is much gentler and easier . Perhaps you can try giving your cat some canned food without carbs? Also are you feeding him the recommended portions? Perhaps you're accidently not feeding him enough? This is what rad cat has to say about their portion recommendations:

How much do I feed?

Adult cats:

There are many variables that will influence the amount of food your cat will eat.

Typically, 10 pound adult cats will consume between 2.5-3.5 oz twice per day, with 3oz meals, twice per day being most typical.  This will vary with regard to the age, breed and activity level of your cat.  We always recommend to start with 3oz per meal.  Your kitty will definitely let you know if it is too much or not enough.

If you don't weigh out each meal, 3oz is about a nice, full 1/3 cup.

Though I've never tried feeding Young Again dry food to my cats, I am very very sceptical about their claims. First of all, always having to have food in the bowl means that the old stale food goes down and you're covering it with new fresh food every three days for according to their website The bowl must never be allowed to be less than half full at any given time; never.   This sounds very unsanitary for the little chewed up spit soaked pieces will most likely end up at the bottom of the bowl. Also their claim that In the home if the bowl is half empty they think the food supply has dried up and they are going to starve. They are naturally independent and can’t reason out that you are going to show up and fill the bowl again. These manufacturers clearly do not understand cats at all. Cats are very intelligent, and if you keep a steady feeding schedule they will know when they'll get their next meal. Their are many reasons why cats become overweight, not enough exercise, boredom, constant access to delicious yummy kibble...etc. 

Another reason why free-feeding is bad because kibble changes the ph of the cat's urine and it takes around 4 hours after eating for the urine to return to its normal ph. So by letting the cat free freed, a bite every hour or whenever he feels like it, keeps the urine alkaline causing all sorts urinary problems like the formation of crystals.  source: http://catcentric.org/care-and-health/how-often-should-you-feed-your-cat/ and http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-the-importance-of-urine-ph

So if you want to feed your cat dry kibble you could try feeding it Young Again but I would not recommend mixing it with raw food. Personally I wouldn't free feed but I'd rather do that than continually top up the bowl or recycle chewed up pieces so they end at the top. You could try feeding him two meals of Young Again which is recommended for adult cats but then you'll run the risk of over or underfeeding since there are no feeding recommendations. A friend of mine who has two cats which cannot process high starch foods had good experiences of feeding his cats Orijen dry cat food http://www.orijen.ca/foods/cat-food/?lang=us. It's 90% poultry (fish) eggs and 10% vegetables (fruits) which have been chosen to replace starches because they have a low glycemic index even though cats do not eat vegetables and fruits in the wild. 

I hoped these resources can help you decide what is best for you and your lifestyle for now it sounds like both you and your cat are miserable at the way things are. Good luck

Thank you SO much for your very informative reply! I really appreciate it!

Everything you said about digestion makes a lot of sense as to why raw and dry/cooked shouldn't be mixed.

As for underfeeding him, that's definitely not the case! I actually am overfeeding him (I know, bad mom!) because he wakes me up so often I'll give him a bigger portion of food so he'll let me sleep longer. He's gained two pounds since I started feeding him raw!

I know animal behaviorists would just say, "don't get up, he'll stop." but this just hasn't worked. I ignore him for as long as I can, but after half hour of him meowing at 1:30am, I need to just get up and feed him so I can get back to sleep. And then it starts again around 4:30am. I don't get to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time.

I wish there was some sort of refrigerated timed feeder. I'm sure that would be helpful! I heard they made one (I think in Germany?) a few years ago but then stopped production. Oh well...

I'll continue to try to give my cat the best!

Thanks again

amandamariec said:

I know animal behaviorists would just say, "don't get up, he'll stop." but this just hasn't worked. I ignore him for as long as I can, but after half hour of him meowing at 1:30am, I need to just get up and feed him so I can get back to sleep. And then it starts again around 4:30am. I don't get to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time.

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Wow, that sounds like some serious sleep deprivation! Does your cat have health issues that require a raw diet, or are you just trying to prevent future problems? One thing you might try is leaving a small *frozen* portion of raw out when you go to bed. It will take a couple of hours to thaw, which might buy you a couple more hours of sleep. You could also try one of those bowls that you store in the freezer prior to using, Frosty Bowlz I think they are called. If you put a frozen serving in that, it might last until morning? Have you tried freeze-dried raw, leaving it out undehydrated? Not ideal I know, but might be better than kibble? What about abandoning raw and moving to a high quality dry (like Orijen) overnight supplemented by high quality canned during the day?

Sorry to not be of more help. It sounds like you are in a really difficult situation. I've worked hard to get all my cats off kibble and onto raw and high quality canned foods, but nothing like what you've gone through. I don't recommend kibble for cats at all, but I might make an exception if I were in your shoes.

Awww thanks amandamariec for you kind words, I'm glad to hear I could help. I feel for you with your sleep deprivation for I know how draining that is. I have chronic pain and need to take sleeping pills most nights to get a good night's sleep. Malou, the older kitten, is very vocal and she meows for all kinds of reasons from greeting, begging for food to boredom but she doesn't do it at night. I am however very sensitive to sound so I sleep with ear plugs and have been doing so for 15 years now. It might not be the best solution to the meowing but it will take away some of the noise. 

SuzanneF said:

One thing you might try is leaving a small *frozen* portion of raw out when you go to bed. It will take a couple of hours to thaw, which might buy you a couple more hours of sleep. 

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I think this suggestion might help if your cat isn't a glutton. If he's patient enough to not chow down the frozen pieces and upset his stomach this might buy you more hours of sleep. However I remember once putting down a bowl of half frozen catfood on the counter, turning around and finding Malou wolfing it down like there was no tomorrow. The pieces were soft with ice in the middle and she upset her stomach so much she couldn't eat anything that day and eventually vomitted the food up.

What time do you give him his last meal? If you aren't already doing so you might want to play with him and tire him out as much as you can before bedtime and then feed him the meal. If he's worn out there's a bigger change he might just sleep through the night because he's so tired. You could also try putting out multiple bowls scattered around the house with a bit of the raw food so he has to play detective to find his food. Show it to him in the morning so he knows where to look and then do the same in the evening. It wil at least keep him occupied. 

The last tip I can think of is getting one of those treat balls or puzzle feeders and to put high quality treats in them like pieces of cooked chicken or something else and then leave it with him for the night. If he's hungry and wants food, let him work for it and while he's doing so you might get more sleep. 

Good luck and keep us updated on the progress

How much are you feeding him? Is it possible you're underfeeding and he's simply hungry? I wouldn't feed regular kibble maybe something like Ziwipeak air dried would be an option for you? Or what about just putting out some freeze dried treats at night instead? Or some canned food overnight? 

SuzanneF

And I wish I was exaggerating that he's that intolerable at night! But, I still love him nonetheless. 

Thanks for the tip. I have a timed feeder with a ice pack in the bottom that I used to use. Maybe I can try putting the frozen food in there over night and have it pop open a few hours later. I'm so paranoid about bacteria with the raw food though!

Otherwise, if I do need to switch to dry, he'd definitely only get a high protein food like EVO. At least it's better than Friskies. Then again, my dad's cat is 13 and that's what he eats and the vet just gave him a clean bill of health! I'm sure some cats are just more "hardy" than others. 

SiggyMauw

Thanks again for the good tips! I like the treat ball idea with some freeze dried raw treats. I have a full bag from Nature's Variety, which he loves! I'll give that a go

missmimz

My fatty gained two pounds since feeding him raw! He went from 10 lbs to 12 lbs and the vet just said he shouldn't gain anymore. So, underfeeding definitely isn't the problem And I thought ZiwiPeak air dried would be the PERFECT solution but the texture is a bit chewy and the pieces are a little big for my cat, since he's missing 8 teeth. I put it out for him and he just sort of mushed it in his mouth and then spit it out. 

Thank you for all your tips though! 

@amandamariec, my sister sent me this meme today and I thought of you [emoji]128516[/emoji]

Haha! Love that meme, SuzanneF! So true.